


They Love You [You Waited Smiling For This]

by ScumbagSimon



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Barry Allen Needs a Hug, Caitlin Snow Needs a Hug, Cisco Ramon Needs A Hug, Eobard Thawne wants a hug but doesn't really deserve one, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, The Flash (TV 2014) Season 1, The Flash (TV 2014) Season 1 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:02:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22799023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScumbagSimon/pseuds/ScumbagSimon
Summary: In the end, being erased from existence didn't hurt nearly as much as betraying his kids.
Kudos: 35





	They Love You [You Waited Smiling For This]

When Eobard Thawne first found himself trapped in the past, he wanted nothing more than to kill the Flash. Barry Allen was a disease, the ever-present thorn in his side. His nemesis.   
But as time went on, he wasn't so sure this was still true.  
He watched him as a child. He felt nothing but hate for him. Every nerve screamed for him to lunge forward and strangle the young, powerless boy that would one day be his most despised rival. Unfortunately, he needed him. So he watched from afar. Time continued to drag on. The years seemed like millenia, the primitive people and machines a Stark reminder of the beautiful world he'd been locked away from. But then, as he built Star Labs from the ground up, came Caitlin and Cisco.  
Caitlin was hired as a chemist, but also as a doctor. Thawne (Wells, he accidently called himself, even when alone) didn't think much of her at first. She was emotional. Sensitive. Loyal to a fault. Fawning over her fiance every chance she got. Then he spoke to her, for the first time since he'd hired her. He was having a bad day, feeling even more alone than usual. Her soft voice and pleading brown eyes somehow opened him up like she was cracking the ice on a frozen pond, and he found himself confiding in her (trimming the truth, of course). He discovered that her fawning over her fiance (Donnie?) extended past romantic love. She gushed to Thawne about his success, told him how she'd looked up to the man since she was a kid.  
"You've built this building, and this company," (her gentle tone softened something in his chest) "But you've built these people, too. You've picked us up from nothing and made us into scientists. You're never alone, Dr. Wells."  
Her words were untrue. But still, he found a subtle hint of comfort in them. She was gentle and warm. (At least before Ronnie died.)  
And Cisco. When he'd interviewed the nervous, awkward boy, he'd seen something in him. A spark of genius. Deep inside, a reflection of himself. Thawne hired him instantly. He came to work on his first day with an odd mix of professionalism and childishness. But his mind was magnificent. Even Hartley, the so-called "chosen one", the only one who could even hold a candle to Thawne's intellect, wasn't as smart as him. But aside from his brain, his magnificent ideas, his incredible engineering abilities, there was something else. He was like Thawne (Wells? Thawne. Wells?). He was out of place in a primitive world. He understood. His jokes, while perhaps childish and stupid, kept a smile flickering on Thawne's face. (Others were too afraid to keep a sense of humor around him. Cisco was refreshing). It made him wonder if there were things more important than winning.  
Then the particle accelerator exploded, as planned. Thawne was almost sad to see his plan come to fruition, because he knew it would see the end of his friendship(?) with his kids. (When did he start calling them that? his kids). But a few days after the explosion, the pair of them came wandering into the cortex like lost puppies. Caitlin flung herself into her work, hardly stopping to eat or sleep. (Admirable, and yet he almost started to worry about her. He found himself telling her to go home and rest more often then he meant to). Cisco tried to lighten the mood with jokes, and kept Wells (Thawne?) busy with engineering products. He even managed to make Caitlin smile now and again, which in turn made Thawne smile. A fake smile, of course. (Was it?)  
Then Barry arrived. After a week of persuading Joe West to allow a strange and dangerous scientist to take his almost-son to a mysterious medical facility, Barry arrived in all his comatose glory. Caitlin devoted all her time to keeping him alive and healthy. Cisco devoted all of his time to keeping Thawne from going insane with impatience. He knew it would take a while for the speedster to wake, but nine months? Really? His calculations said less. He must have had a variable wrong.   
He spent hours sitting next to the coma patient when nobody else was around, allowing himself to talk freely and proudly about how he planned to use him. It was therapeutic, spilling his guts like that.   
Then Barry woke up and everything changed.  
Although he'd assumed it would happen, having a much younger, softer Barry Allen (Flash. Barry?) stumble over his words and gush about how much he looked up to him was… interesting. His hatred took a step back and made room for a cold front of wise indifference. Then the kid stuck around, and it was almost like the hatred began to melt. The kid was… sweet. His grin was infectious, and the way he fit with Caitlin and Cisco was like he was always meant to be there. A puzzle piece that fit in between them. (Did Harry fit in there too? Eobard?)  
He found himself referring to them as "the kids" in his head. Not on purpose. Whenever he caught himself doing so he would stop and remove his glasses, rubbing his eyes like that would rid himself of the fondness he had for those children.  
Damn him.  
So he let himself indulge a bit. He took time that he could have spent rebuilding his particle accelerator and used it to have a personal moment with one of them. A gentle talk about loss with Caitlin. Watching Barry run, cheering him on. Helping Cisco with a fun, meaningless project. He watched them from the corner while they brainstormed the solution to the current metahuman criminal, finding himself smiling without thinking about it. Going back to building a machine in a dark, cold room… it always seemed so lonely.  
Finally he forced himself to reveal the Reverse Flash. Hearing his kids talk about him, however indirectly, with such scorn… he tried not to listen. More than once he felt a lump rise in his throat. Hurting Barry in the football arena… twenty years ago it would have seemed like a dream come true. Now it was a scene straight out of his nightmares, and yet necessary to his plan.  
He knew it was only a matter of time, but when he noticed Barry beginning to suspect who he really was, it formed a deep ache in his heart. Barry no longer had the childish, loving trust in him that he'd once had. It shouldn't have felt so empty. The Flash was the thorn in his side and the turpentine in the wound. He hated Barry Allen. (Did he?)  
Then Cisco started acting odd, and Thawne (Wells? Thawne. Thawne.) knew that he'd figured it out too. Somehow it hurt even more than Barry had. Then Caitlin found out as well. Loyal to a fault no more.  
He knew they'd hatched a plan when Caitlin told him what Cisco was up to.  
"He thinks he finally figured out what happened at Christmas," (sweet warm Caitlin couldn't meet his gaze) "You know, when we were trying to catch the Reverse Flash?"  
It only took a few minutes to think of a counter-plan. He sent Hannibal down to the bunker with strict instructions and an empty promise of freedom. Though he knew the shapeshifter couldn't really touch Cisco, his heart hammered when he watched the live security footage, the poor boy's soft brown eyes wide with fear, his breath stuttering as he forced false confidence into his words. He fell backwards, scrambling away from the fake Thawne (Thawne. Wells?) in terror, something snapped deep within the speedster's chest. He could hardly bear to watch as Hannibal stepped through the barrier and Cisco cowered away from him. Detective West fired three shots. Thawne reminded himself to spare the man, if given the opportunity.   
He let Barry catch him, with the help of Firestorm and the Green Arrow. He felt empty on the other side of the glass panels, his kids looking at him with betrayal.   
Cisco came by himself, later on. Thawne looked at the papers the boy had given him, but he wasn't reading them. He already knew the question they were asking, and the answer. Cisco paced back and forth anxiously, then finally confessed his vision of the alternate timeline. Thawne wanted to cry at the look of betrayal in his son's eyes. Or maybe kill somebody. He could go either way.  
"I only hope that as you're living your great adventure, that you remember who gave you that life. And that it was given out of love."  
Cisco stormed towards the exit, tapping the control panel. The metal shield slid shut, and Eobard was glad he couldn't see him leave.  
Later, he wondered if it was worth it. Fifteen years, most of which were lonely and empty. Worse, the rest were filled with lies and betrayal, building love and trust only to knock it all down with a single blow.   
In the end, being erased from existence didn't hurt as much as betraying his kids.


End file.
